‘The black + white paintings have forced me to be cooler, imposed a limitation upon my work habit and structure; forced me to tighten the visual concept; provided a personal framework of references plus a stamp of originality: THEY SAY WHITTEN.’—Jack Whitten, 1975

Over the course of a six-decade career, Jack Whitten’s work has bridged rhythms of gestural abstraction and process art, arriving at a nuanced language of painting that hovers between mechanical automation and intensely personal expression.

Focusing on Whitten’s paintings, works on paper and sculptures from the 1970s, this exhibition showcases a juncture in the artist’s career, which saw him reject the gestural brushstrokes of abstract expressionism in favor of experimental processes and materials. Displaying Whitten’s long-standing interest in craft and woodwork, the exhibition also includes carved and assembled sculptures made by the artist during the 1970s. The exhibition includes rare works from Whitten’s landmark, monochromatic Greek Alphabet series (1975 – 1978), which was the focus of a dedicated exhibition at Dia Beacon, New York NY, (2022 – 2023). The exhibition at Hauser & Wirth London goes beyond the monochrome to also display Whitten’s experimentation with color during this process-based period. In March 2025, The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) will open ‘Jack Whitten: The Messenger,’ the first comprehensive retrospective dedicated to the groundbreaking American artist.

During the 1970s, Whitten made the conscious decision to remove all gestural mark-making from his work, switching gears to focus more on mechanical automation. At this time, the artist was inspired by his early training in craft and science—in particular, his ongoing research into quantum mechanics and contemporary imaging technologies. Removing the use of pens and brushes in his drawings and paintings, the artist instead made and used unconventional tools to create abstract constructions. As Whitten stated, ‘After several experiments, I built what I called the Developer, an analogy to photography, which was meant to rebuke the notion of touch.’ Employing rakes, rubber squeegees, saws and Afro combs, Whitten’s floor-based tool allowed him to spread and manipulate wet paint as he pulled the ‘Developer’ through the liquid surface. Working on the floor of his studio, the artist created a flat platform, the drawing board, on top of which he placed his canvas.

Opening Hours

Tue-Sat 10am-6pm

Location:

23 Savile Row
London, W1S 2ET

Text and pictures, copyright hauser and wirth and the artist